A relentless offense and sound defense led the field hockey team to their fourth consecutive PL Title with a 5-3 victory over Holy Cross yesterday.
The Eagles took an early lead nine minutes into the game on a penalty corner goal by Denise Infante. However, Holy Cross struck back quickly, scoring just two minutes later to tie the game.
Senior Heidi Hershberger gave the Eagles the lead for good in the 18th minute, knocking a ball out of mid-air past the Crusaders' goalie for a 2-1 advantage.
Just over three minutes later, Holy Cross failed to clear the ball out of their circle, as Maggie Hall gained control of the outlet pass in front of the net, burying a shot in the back of the net to give AU a 3-1 lead. Holy Cross' Laura Cohen scored off a penalty corner with under eight minutes left to close out scoring in a frantic first half.
Camila Infante scored early in the half off a penalty corner to give AU a 4-2 lead. Holy Cross refused to give up, with Tara Welch scoring her second goal of the game five minutes later to get the Crusaders within one. Freshman Savannah Graybill deflected in a shot by Camila Infante over the goalie to get back the two goal advantage.
The win clinched an automatic NCAA Tournament berth for AU, the fourth consecutive trip for the Eagles. For a team whose preseason goal was to make the Final Four, winning the PL was the first step.
"If we didn't win the league, then we wouldn't have the opportunity to achieve our other goals," said Camila Infante, who was named PL Tournament MVP after recording three goals and an assist in two games.
The Eagles advanced to the PL Final with a 4-2 win over Bucknell on Saturday. The Eagles led just 1-0 at halftime, on a Camila Infante penalty stroke goal with under three minutes remaining. Infante scored again in the opening minutes of the second half, minutes before Hershberger one-timed in a pass from Graybill to give AU a 3-0 lead. Emily Hardwood scored her first goal of the season off a penalty corner to close out the scoring for AU.
Although the Eagles posted just a 7-6 out-of-conference record, the team still has high expectations going into next week's NCAA Tournament.
"Our expectation is that we want to win," said Coach Steve Jennings. "We want to win in the first round, then win in the second round and get to the Final Four and go from there. We had some adversity this year, but that builds character."
The announcement of the 16-team NCAA Tournament will be on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. on CSTV.
Field Hockey Tidbits: Four Eagles were named to the All-Tournament Team: Seniors Heidi Hershberger and Camila Infante, junior Denise Infante and freshman Anne-Meike DeWiljes.Earlier in the week, Denise Infante was named PL Defensive Player of the Year and Jennings was named PL Coach of the Year. Camila Infante was injured after being struck in the leg by the ball.Rival Maryland fell 1-0 in the ACC Tournament Final to Wake Forest in a match up of the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation.
